Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - 1797
These are among the memorable lines from the classic epic poem. Even if you're at sea- with water in every direction, it doesn't mean it's drinkable.
I live near Phoenix, Arizona. It's dry and surrounded by desert. We're in a drought.
We live "next door" to California. They're also experiencing a drought.
Unlike our desert, theirs is next to an extremely large body of water.
This water is everywhere- but, in its natural state, undrinkable.
Normal market forces dictate that rare commodities have higher prices. This is not the case with water.
Check out this 2007 study from the Portland Water Bureau:
Does this make sense? Should wet Seattle pay more than twice as much for water than the dry desert city of Phoenix?
Phoenix has a vast network of lakes, dams and waterways. Some are natural and some are man-made, dating as far back as the ancient Hohokams who developed hundreds of miles of irrigation canals. We've done additional work since then.
For as scarce as water can be, Arizona has managed to find inexpensive ways to store and deliver it. This commodity, and its availability, are a constant concern for the many people who live here. It will always be a "front burner" issue for environmentalists and politicians... not just here- but in every city in the nation.
I don't intend this post to be about those environmental issues- or I could write for hours. This is simply a chart showing some surprising data. That is- the presence of water is not always corollary to the price of it.
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